1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk, and more particularly, to a data storage medium having a link zone, and an apparatus and a method of recording/reproducing data on/from the data storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, laser beams have been widely used to record/reproduce data from optical disks. In a recordable optical disk, a zone which serves as a buffer must be defined so as to correctly read data recorded on places other than desired places and guarantee random recording and repetitive recording functions. The zone is called a run-in or run-out zone. A run-in or run-out zone is also called a link zone since it exists between regions where user data are recorded.
However, in the case of a ROM-type optical disk on which data cannot be re-recorded, the efficiency of using a recordable space is lowered where a run-in or run-out zone, i.e., a link zone is directly applied to the ROM-type optical disk to enhance the compatibility of the ROM-type optical disk with a disk drive. That is, once data are recorded on a ROM-type optical disk by a disk manufacturer during an authoring process, the ROM-type optical disk cannot be recorded on again, and accordingly, a link zone provided to repeatedly record data on a data storage medium merely occupies a recordable space on which user data can be prevented from being recorded.